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Georgia football doesn’t need its best game to beat Texas. It just needs a complete one
System
Posts: 11,431 admin
Georgia football doesn’t need its best game to beat Texas. It just needs a complete one
Georgia football knows it will need a complete game to beat Texas on Saturday.
Comments
Let's start with low expectations. Just showing up ready to play unlike the Alabama game would be a good start. I can handle losing a game on the field but not showing up ready to play should never be acceptable for this program. We had enough of that with Mark Richt.
Just like the Alabama game, I'll be at the Texas game with my red pants and ready to yell for this team and program. I challenge Kirby and his staff to have the team ready to play.
I agree with Finebaum that UGA, at times, can be a "hard team to watch". Also, I would ask him if Bama qualifies as an "easy team to watch" over the last 10 quarters…
If CKS can get these Dawgs performing consistently and up to their potential from the opening whistle to the last they can run the table from here.
I want to see them play with the fire in their belly like they had the second half of the BAMA game. Play like it matters to you! If you lose you lose. But just play with passion and energy. Dan Jackson is bringing it! Imagine if all the more talented players played with his level of energy and commitment.
If the DAWGS play a complete game, it'll be their best game this season..
These kids have plenty of experience, yet they can't play a complete game. You recruit players that you hope to develop, but it's up to them to put in the extra effort and bring that to the field. I just don't think the O Line can play man ball. I'm pretty sure the D backs can't hold phase. I love the dawgs, but it is what it is.
Most if not all of UGA's "problems" could be solved with stellar OL play. So far UGA hasn't gotten it.
Must get some guys healthy. Must get some young guys to step up. Must get more guys ready to play. UGA D has been playing like they expect to dominate by just showing up. They aren't.
One thing to give UGA hope: Steve Sarkisian. Head coach at Washington, USC, now Texas. At all 3 stops he has flirted with a huge, program-defining win only to come up small. Just recounting his Longhorn disappointments, in 2022 they had the 2nd most talented team in the Big 12 yet somehow wound up with 5 losses. In 2023 they choked against 3 loss Oklahoma, was handed a playoff spot anyway over a more deserving FSU and then got outcoached in the second half in the playoff against Washington.
Even though Sarkisian's been a head coach longer - Sarkisian had both the Washington and USC jobs before 2016 plus he has been at Texas since 2021 - Kirby has not only been in more big games but won more of them. Even if you factor in Kirby's losses to (usually more talented) Alabama and LSU teams, he's dominated his regular season rivalry games with Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Florida and Auburn plus won 2 SECCG games and 5 playoff games. Sarkisian can't say the same and this is despite his having more talented rosters at USC over the rest of the Pac-12 and now at Texas over the rest of the Big 12.
I will believe Sarkisian winning a truly big game when I see it. Yes, he beat Alabama last year, but he could have lost that game and still made the playoff by running the table as it wasn't a conference game. He needed to follow that up by also taking out Oklahoma and failed miserably. Beating Oklahoma State to back into the playoff doesn't cut it. While Sarkisian can't effectively end UGA's season on Saturday because the committee will need to get 12 teams from somewhere, he has a shot to turn the page on the Kirby era in the SEC and establish a new power balance in the south and in college football. I don't believe that he has it in him to get it done.
Agree that the OL is key and the defensive line has to step up as well. I hope everyone on defense is healthy and we can make everything difficult for Texas. Pass rush will be critical if we stop the run effectively. We need an effective pass rush to make their QB uneasy. We don't have to sack him every time but we need pressure every time. They will be hyped up and we have to be ready. We can't get behind like we did against Ala. If our OL plays well, we can run the ball and then that will set up some big play passes. I expect some trick plays from UGA as well. We also need more play action mixed in with some misdirection plays.
A win Saturday and Georgia rights the ship. A loss confirms what many suspected: this team (currently) lacks the downfield playmakers to fill the shoes of McConkey and Bowers. The defense is a legit concern. Dawgs currently ranked 12th in the SEC on yards per play allowed. The pass defense is showing its just not as good as previous seasons as opponents have converted 33 percent on third downs, ranking UGA eighth in the SEC after being No. 1 each of the past two years. The run defense has been leaky, especially on the edges. The Dawgs are 10th in the SEC in rush defense, down from third last year and first every year from 2019-22. Wow.
Despite all this if the Dawgs can pull together a complete game and play their best game (contrary to what this article states needs to happen) so far, then Dawgs WIN.
This Saturday is not make or break time, nor is it panic and crisis mode time…unless we lose in a bad and embarrassing fashion. A 10-2 Dawg team still most likely makes the playoffs.
I agree with you @MontanaDawg, that a 10-2 record would (probably) get UGA into the playoffs. The problem with that, though, is that if the Dawgs lose on Saturday, they will be 5-2, not 10-2. In other words, the season won't be over but we will already be at our maximum (for playoff purposes) number of losses. And with this team, there is absolutely no guarantee that if we lose to Texas, that we will win out . And that's troubling to me because other teams have improved after losses (Clemson after losing to us, Kentucky after losing to South Carolina). Even Florida played Tennessee to the wire until bad coaching decisions finally caught up with them. But it really seems that we are a WORSE team than we were against Clemson. And for a Kirby Smart-coached team, that is absolutely shocking. Go Dawgs!
Can the dogs win Saturday? I believe they can, but there are questions. Are the Dawgs overrated? Maybe. Hope not! I'm afraid that the portal and NIL have impacted the team in a bad way. I hope going forward Kirby can change. I don't want him to be the next Dabo. Go to the dark side and pay the necessary recruits and pay to keep the players that we have. Throw-up a little in your mouth (like me writing this), have a stiff drink, and do what has to be done going forward. I hope Kirby and staff can get us through this weekend and the remainder of this season. Go Dawgs!!!
Sad to say this but playing in Austin will be tough and I (for one) do not think the Dawgs can sustain a 60 minute effort. Yeah, Bowers and McConkey are gone but that does not mean Bobo cannot dial up a tunnel screen (or two) to the likes of Etienne, Bell, Luckie, Delp, Smith or Lovett. Any of these guys can run this easy route and they have the speed to make the cuts that turn this into a big gainer if not a TD.
This game comes down to pure fundamental questions … Can we block? Can we tackle? Can we maintain ball security (running and passing)? Can the defense wake the heck up and play like junkyard dawgs and either force fumbles or make a play on defense?
I hope I am wrong on my misgivings. Would not mind seeing a game similar to the 1985 Chicago Bears whooping of the Dallas Cowboys. I think the final score was 44-0. That would be a statement game no one any where in the country could overlook. Just remember to bring the intelligent aggressiveness and play a sharp, crisp game. In other words, dominate that burnt orange and give them a thorough welcome to the SEC type of game.
@FishingDawg
"I hope going forward Kirby can change. I don't want him to be the next Dabo."
Dabo is on his 6th different philosophy on offense and his 3rd on defense . So you might want to pick someone else for that. Dabo's issues the past few years have been recruiting, not coaching. Dabo's best years were when FSU, Florida, Miami, Auburn, UGA and Tennessee weren't great and Georgia Tech was running the triple option. Now those schools - minus Florida and Auburn I guess - are getting a lot of the players that Dabo used to get.